He finished chewing a bite of sandwich and set it down on the car. "Evelyn's first husband was a surgeon. They lived in a big house, up in the Hills. When they divorced, she got a substantial amount of cash, enough to buy the house you saw today, plus had a bit left over."

"What's a bit?" I couldn't help it - I'm nosy.

He raised an eyebrow at me, then shrugged. "Two hundred grand, maybe a little more. Around that time I was looking at opening a club in Vegas. I approached Evelyn, asked if she wanted to go in as a minority partner. She had been looking at different investments at that time, CDs, bonds, etc. I convinced her that her money would be better served at Safirre."

"A strip club? You convinced that little old lady that she should put her life savings in a strip club? What if it went belly up?"

He stared at me. "I'm not out to swindle old ladies out of their pensions. If the club had flopped, I would have covered her loss. We own the building - there's actual assets tied to her money. Plus, I don't see anyone complaining about the return Safirre has done. That "little old lady" has more than ten times that original investment now sitting in the bank."

"And she owns what percentage?"

"Thirty."

"You own seventy?"

"Sixty - I gave Janine ten percent."

"Why?"

"You'll learn in business that no one runs the company like the owner does. The ten percent ensures she stays honest, and doesn't look for another job. Janine is strong - the dancers like her, the clients like her, and I like her."

"You ever slept with her?"

"Why do you seem to ask me that with every woman we meet?"

"I didn't ask you that with Evelyn."

"Maybe you should have."

I recoiled and wrinkled my nose, scooting a little farther away from him on the hood. He laughed through his sip of lemonade.

"No, I haven't slept with Janine. She's too hard for me - I don't go for the muscular look."

"So that's why you haven't slept with her - because her body type isn't for you. Not because you think that it'd be a bad idea to screw your business partner."

He fixed his dark brown eyes on me and reached forward, gently wiping some mayonnaise from my lip - I pushed his hand away in irritation.

"I wouldn't have chosen a business partner, or manager that I was attracted to. I know my strengths. Staying away from good-looking women isn't one of them." He shot me a sly look. "But then again, you seem to suffer from the same problem."

I shot him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

He sat back on his hands and stretched his neck, looking at me through thick lashes. "You know, last night - you and Montana."

I sat there for a moment, thinking. Trying to sort through the drunken haze of memories. I vividly remembered the tour of the club with Montana. Then us getting to the table and Brad being gone. Then…I frowned trying to remember. We were going to do shots, tequila shots. She had to ask permission. Then… oh my god … My eyes widened as I had a brief memory of Montana's mouth on my bare br**sts - us kissing - and guys, lots of guys - their faces surrounding us, staring… I slumped down on the hood, laying back, my hand covering my face. "Oh god." I moaned, mortified. "It's what - one o'clock? And you’re just now mentioning this to me?!"

He laughed and leaned over me, pulling my fingers back, exposing my pained eyes. "You don't need to be embarrassed. Trust me, Safirre has seen a lot crazier, though we typically try to keep that behavior out of the club."

I groaned miserably, closing my eyes. "What was I thinking?"

"You weren't - the tequila was." His hand moved from my face down, sweeping over my breast and played with the exposed skin between my shirt and the top of my jeans. "Besides, I liked watching you."

"With Montana?"

"Not necessarily with her. Just you, in your element - having fun and being turned on. You are very sexy, Julia."

I blushed and moved his hand, sitting up and tossing my hair dramatically. "I am quite sexy, it's true."

He laughed and looked skyward, rolling his eyes. "Oh.. the ego."

"Where were you? You weren't at our table when we got back."

He looked away, out over the dam. "I was with Alexis."

"Getting a dance?"

"Sort of."

I tossed my half eaten carrot at him, which he blocked easily. "God, you are a pig. No wonder you've been such a "gentleman."

He looked at me carefully, taking a small sip of lemonade. "You mad?"

"No. Just understand that my drunken playtime with Montana was due to me being left unattended. When the cat’s away…." I grinned mischievously at him and took another bite of carrot.

"So, not jealous?"

I shook my head. "Not jealous. Guess that means I don't care huh?"

"Guess so, Julia. Guess so." He looked back over the dam.

We munched along in silence, Brad opening up a bag of Salt and Vinegar chips and diving in, the bag making a loud sound in the quiet landscape. I wrinkled my nose and looked at him. "Those chips are going to give you vampire breath."

"Vampire breath? Is that the cool term right now?"

"No, but it's true. I'm not kissing you after this. Probably all part of Evelyn's plan. Separate us with the power of bad breath."

"I think Evelyn liked you."

"I don't know… she's a hard read. I take it you two are close?"

"Yes. I'm not close with my parents - they weren't exactly the nurturing type. Evelyn takes good care of me, and she needs someone checking in on her, making her feel important. That was one of the reasons I brought the Club proposal to her. I could have easily covered that nut alone, but the Club makes her feel important, gives her something to think about. I get her down there every once in a while and she loves being backstage, taking over as house mom for the evening."

"So you're basically a saint - that's what your saying? Saint Bradley?"

"God, you are a pain in my ass."

"No, I just call you on your crap."

He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "You are a mess, you know that?"

I pushed him off - "No kisses! I told you - vampire breath!"

Beaming at me, he grabbed an extra large chip and chomped down, chewing noisily. I looked at my watch and started to pack up the cooler.

---

On the way back to Vegas, Brad insisted we stop back by Evelyn to return the cooler.

"She said we could keep it!"

"Yeah, she also said we could throw it away. She can say whatever, but she wants that cooler back. Trust me."

So return it we did, winding our Vipers through the suburban streets once more until we were crammed into her tiny cul-de-sac again. I waited in my car as Brad took it up to the front and rang the bell. I watched a gushing Evelyn hug Brad about five times before he finally detached from her grip and walked back down the drive. Stopping by my open window, he leaned in.

"I was gonna take the scenic way back. Ready to open them up?"

I revved my engine in response. At the sound, at least two curtains moved in the homes surrounding us. We excited the cul-de-sac carefully and respectfully, and began to head back to the open road. We reached it in two and a half songs, and I raised both hands and cheered into the wind as we hit the highway. I amped up the radio and pressed my foot on the pedal. The car instantly responded - literally jumping forward and throwing my head against the seat. I up shifted and began to fly. Brad and I leapfrogged each other, and flew past cars as we traveled through the desert. I felt alive, liberated, and as the car drove, all thoughts of anything rational left my mind.

CHAPTER 26

Rule 5: No socializing or communication out of the experience.

"So tell me about the intern you slept with."

"Which one?"

I coughed on a sip of Dr. Pepper and shot him a look of disgust. We sat in Rick's Roadhouse, a chain restaurant located off Terminal D. We had about 45 minutes before our flight, and were killing it there instead of the overcrowded concourse.

"I'm kidding! There was only one. Blond, with a tight little gymnast body. She was my intern, a colossal mistake by HR. Second week she started wearing short little skirts and tighter tops. He dipped a fry in some ketchup and popped it in his mouth.

“You know me, keeping my eyes to myself isn't my strong point. I started looking, she started bending over more. I lasted another two weeks before we went for drinks after work. Drinks led to sex, which she loved and I didn't."

"Why not?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like to kiss and tell."

"Oh please. I think we passed the polite conversation stage a week ago. We have moved into full disclosure and then some."

"Still…"

"Okay, answer my questions and I'll open the door wide open for any questions about my past lovers."

"So you do kiss and tell."

"You seem trustworthy. Plus, it doesn't appear like you have any friends, so there is no one for you to giggle and share this with."

His eyes rose amusedly and he stood for a moment, surprising me.

"Where are you going?"

"Just a minute." He strode away from the table and went up to the bar, where he was drooled over by a bleach-blond 40 year old who, by the look of her skin, should have worn sunscreen and stopped smoking about 20 years ago. He returned to the table a few minutes later, with two shots of a golden liquid. He set them down, one in front of me. I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him.

"Come on. It's the last day of our fun." The lizard skin waitress from behind the bar appeared with a glass of limes and set them down, hovering a moment too long before smiling at Brad and heading back to the bar. "Tequila," he said.

"Trying to get me to hook up with your bartender?"

"Ha. Ha. I'll answer your question, if you take the shot with me."

"Sounds like coercion."

"Guilty as charged. I'll let you figure out my punishment later." He held up his shot and I met his with mine. "Toast?"

"To guilty men." I clinked my glass to his and we downed the yellow fire. I winced and grabbed a lime, biting down on the tart fruit. I followed that with a sip of tea, and pointed at Brad, indicating for him to answer the original question.

"Fine. It was bad for me because she was too loud. Moaning and wailing the entire time, she acted like she was constantly either orgasming or on the verge of orgasming. She supposedly had about twelve during the twenty minutes we had sex. I finally stopped and told her I was done."

I thought of our experience together and blushed. Best I could recall, I had been pretty vocal. He caught my look. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Come on. What?"

"I was pretty vocal with you also. Maybe it's an intern thing."

"Julia." He reached forward and grabbed my hand. "You are a intriguing, beautiful woman. You are incredibly sexual and I love how you are during sex. Being vocal is a great thing - she took it to the extreme and made me think she was over-embellishing. That was the turn-off. I want a real, genuine reaction, not an imitation of a p**n star."

I sighed, and licked some ketchup off my finger. "I was just stating an observation, I'm not worried about my bedroom prowess."

"And I was just explaining the difference between you two."

"So, that was it, you guys never did it again?"

"Oh no, we did. I just gagged her the next time."

"What?! You did not!"

He shrugged. "She was kinky and into that type of stuff anyway - kept wanting me to hold her down, spank her ass, that kind of thing. I worked it into the foreplay and she was hot for it. Kept her quiet and the sex was better that time."

"So you kept seeing her?"

"No. Like I said, her outfits were beyond inappropriate, and her behavior at the office made it obvious what was going on. I told her we had to stop. It wasn't worth the headache I got from Broward and Carter. They moved her to another attorney, and ranted and raved for at least two weeks - sent me down to HR for a chat like I was a junior associate."

"Yet here you sit with me."

"Well. I've got to misbehave every once in a while just to keep them on their toes."

"Plus, no one's ever going to find out about this trip," I reminded him.

"Right. Plus no one's ever going to find out about this trip." he monotoned.

"I'm serious!"

"Hey," he said, raising his hands. "I don't have a problem keeping my indiscretions secret. It's the girls who always talk. I can't help it that I make such an impression."

"Oh lordy. Is there enough room for your ego at this table, or should we pull up an extra chair?"

He laughed. "In all seriousness, it would make my life at the office easier if you kept this to yourself."

"First of all, you're not that great, so I have nothing to tell anyone about. Second, no worries. Our secret is safe with me. Plus, once we are back home, we are steering clear of each other, right?"

"Definitely. And you're okay with that, right? No more dates, no nightly phone calls, or gushy emails?"

"You got it."

"God, you are the perfect woman." He leaned in, and I kissed him briefly. Leaning back, he looked at me with a sly grin. "Now, do we have time for a quickie before our flight?"